I kissed his nose. “You won’t,” I told him. He just looked at me.
“Let’s, uh, get up before Leander comes back and sees us like this on the couch.” I chuckled. Yeah, that was not something I wanted to do. I gently rose off him and ran to the bathroom. I poked my head out of the bathroom after I was done doing my stuff.
“Wanna take a shower?” I asked sweetly, hoping he would join me.
“Wouldn’t miss shower time with my beautiful flower,” he said as he stripped out of his clothes and turned on the water. It was all I could do not to just stare at his god-like body. He was perfect. I looked up at his piercing dark grey eyes and smiled. This beautiful man was mine. I rid myself of my own clothes and step in front of him into the shower. He joined me seconds later and started rubbing my body. He washed me, and I returned the honor.
After our shower, we dried off and went to bed. He held me close and kissed my head as we fell asleep.
Chapter 24
“What’s wrong Thalia? I felt your fear, I came immediately.” Anubis was behind me, pleading with me to look at him. I turned around and saw him. The man I had fallen in love with. My eyes found something that did not belong to him originally.
“What is that?” I pointed to the markings on his chest. I rose from where I was sitting and went to touch them. They were beautiful. A few symbols the locals called hieroglyphics. My fingers ran over the symbols lightly. “It’s not paint?” I asked.
He shook his head. “They are permanently etched into my skin.” I touched them in disbelief. Such things were not possible. “What do they mean?” I hadn’t learned the written language. It always interested me, but my father wouldn’t allow me to learn.
“It spells your name, Thalia. I’ll have you over my heart as long as I will exist. You are the essence of my existence. I want you, Thalia, forever.” My fingers froze over his permanent markings. They were for me. My heart exploded with love. Then my eyes filled with tears as I fell into his arms and sobbed against his chest. His arms wrapped around me, holding me to him.
“What happened, Thalia?” he begged. I shook my head and pulled away from him and walked to the edge of the water.
“My father is presenting me to the warrior tomorrow. I begged and begged him to call if off, but he won’t listen. This past month with you has been the best of my life, but I can’t do it anymore.” I turned to him, and what I saw shocked me.
All of the trees and grass around where he was standing had died. It was all wilting and turning to ash before my eyes. “Anubis? What happened?” His face was hard. His hands clenched. A muscle in his jaw was twitching as his eyes were boring into mine. I didn’t understand.
I walked over and bent down to touch the grass. It crumbled between my fingers. My eyes flew to his in panic. “Anubis, please tell me what happened here,” I pleaded. He lowered down so we were equals.
“I am Anubis.”
I glared at him, not in the mood for his humor. “I know that. Why is everything dead?”
“I got angry; I wasn’t ready for you to see this. My beautiful Thalia, I pray none of this changes how you feel about me. I am truly Anubis. I was not named after the God of the Underworld. I am the God of the Underworld.” I stared at him in disbelief.
There was no way what he was saying was real. I looked upon his face. His beautiful face was full of concern. His grey eyes the very same color of the ash surrounding me. “It can’t be,” I whispered. He tried to smile for my sake, but it didn’t reach his eyes.
“Everything is true, love. Your gods, everything you thought was myth, is true. I didn’t want to tell you like this but there is no going back. I may be Anubis, god of the Underworld, but I am still hopelessly in love with you. You consume my every thought. My very soul belongs to you.” Tears were streaming down my face. I was so confused. What did being a god mean for me? Could he even be with a mortal? He moved closer and opened his arms before me, beckoning me to crawl into them.
I did. Even though I wanted to hate him for lying to me, for keeping secrets from me, I couldn’t. I loved him more. His arms surrounded me as he murmured sweet words of comfort to me.
“I won’t let them take you from me Thalia, you are my destiny.” I didn’t know what he could do to stop this, but being a God I figured his chances were higher than most.
“I love you Anubis.” I whispered into his chest, right where my name was across his chest. I brought my lips to the symbols. Sealing my fate to be his through my kiss. “I will fix this; I swear it on Ma’at itself. We will be together Thalia.”
My tears began to slow. I believed him. He held me there until the sun began to rise. I didn’t know what the sun would bring with it, but I knew I loved him and he loved me. We would figure out a way to be together.
I jumped up from sleeping. Sweat was coming off me in rivulets. No fucking way! What the fuck did I just see? I was so freaked out right now.
“Thalia, what’s wrong?” I turned so fast towards the man next to me. I knew the moment my panic registered with him. His face turned deadly. “What did you see, Thalia?” he demanded. I was frozen. His hand reached out to touch my face and I flinched away from it, like it was a deadly snake.
“Who are you?” barely came out of my lips on a whisper. His panic slowly turned into fear. I could see it on him. He knew! He fucking knew what I saw in my head, didn’t he? My fear turned into disbelief. I stared at him. Both of our eyes never leaving each others.
“Thalia, tell me what you saw?” he pleaded sternly. I backed away from him slightly, despite the hurt in his eyes as I pulled away.
“I saw you, I was upset and you came to me. With that!” I pointed to his tattoo. I still wasn’t ready to process that. Was it true?
“ You, you…… You got angry and turned all living things around you to ash. You said you were Anubis.” I watched as his face froze, becoming a completely unreadable canvas.
He let go a breath he was holding. He just looked at me, waiting for me to say something or freak out. Which I was, I just wasn’t voicing it. I couldn’t sit here and stare at his face any longer. I jumped out of bed and ran into the living room. He appeared in front of me.
“HOLY SHIT!” I screamed and fell back in fear. Unbelievable! I screamed for Leander. I heard him rustling to get out of bed and to me but Tristan was suddenly holding me and then the world disappeared.
My head hurt. I tried to open my eyes but they were heavy. I tried to wake but my body wasn’t ready. I fell back into a deep slumber.
Who knew how much time had passed before my eyes opened? I sat up right in a hurry and looked at my surroundings. I was in Tristan’s big bed, with four posts reaching the ceiling. Fury filled me. How dare he do this! I got up and marched out of his room to find him and give him a piece of my mind. I found him making something in the kitchen.
“How dare you take me?!” I yelled at him. I walked right up to him and raised my hand to smack that stupid smirk right off his face, but then his hand grabbed mine before it made contact. He brought my hand to his lips and kissed it gently. I growled in frustration.
“No!” I ripped my hand from his. “You don’t get to lie and kidnap me, and expect to kiss any part of me!”
He just smiled at me, which fueled my anger. “Actually isn’t that what captives do to their hostages?” he laughed out.
“Arghhhh.” I groaned and stalked away to the bathroom. He wasn’t taking this seriously! I felt like going all hulk on his ass. Then he would maybe take things seriously.
I stomped into his bathroom and decided to take a shower. Maybe it would help me think and discuss things calmly with him. My thoughts of a shower were soon replaced by the desire to soak in his huge bathtub. Yeah, talking to him could wait; I needed a nice, long soak in the tub.
The warmth from the water spread up my exhausted muscles as I sank down into the oversized tub. There was nothing like a big bathtub so when you get in the water comes up to your collarbone. I took a few deep brea
ths and just enjoyed it before I started thinking about what was going on.
Okay, the time had come for me to face what was happening. I weaved my hand through the bubbles and thought of my predicament.
So according to my “memories,” Tristan’s real name was Anubis, and he was THE ANUBIS. Like the god of the Egyptian underworld. I think he might have been able to convince me I was crazy if he didn’t just go all POOF and somehow we ended up here.
So if Anubis is real, then does that mean everything is real? All of mythology? How much of it was true? Was I really from back in ancient Egyptian times? In the memories though I wasn’t Egyptian, I was Greek.
I WAS GREEK! Holy shit! I felt like everything I knew had been a lie. I shook my head. Okay, pause that thought. Back to the memories. Tristan or Anubis was a God. Okay, and despite how crazy that is, I believed it was true. I had been having these feelings of familiarity with him ever since that first dream and even then I recognized him.
If I went based on what I felt, then l felt everything was true. My soul was screaming for him as I sat here in this tub. Could he feel it? I mean, being the god of the Underworld and dealing with souls, he probably could. Embarrassing. I had fallen in love with him thousands of years ago, and I had fallen in love with him all over again.
Did I have other past lives? “Ahh,” I huffed. This was so confusing. I figured it was time to face the music.
I got out of the tub, dried off and dressed in some of Tristan’s/Anubis’s clothes. I knew he wouldn’t hurt me, but I still felt a little betrayed that I hadn’t known, and he did; yet, he kept up the secrets.
Chapter 25
Tristan was waiting for me at his kitchen table with a variety of food. “Enjoy your bath?” he mused.
Jerk.
“I did. What is this?” I gestured to the whole dinner get up he had going on.
“It’s dinner time. You were out all day. Sorry. It has been so long since you have transported with me I didn’t think you would be out like that. But don’t worry, it won’t affect you as much next time,” he answered honestly.
I nodded and sat down. He made me shrimp, zucchini pasta with basil pesto and olive oil. It smelled delicious. “Thank you.” I took a bite and oh God, it was just as delicious as it smelled.
“This is really good,” I moaned. His eyes lit up as spoke. Oops. I should have probably tried to control making sex noises while eating. His dark eyes were hungry, and I didn’t want to go all horny lady on him and throw the food off the table, climb over there and do it on the table.
Okay! Thalia, good grief! He coughed to clear his throat. I hope he couldn’t read minds too!
“Can you read minds?” I blurted out. I had to know! He chuckled.
“No, I can’t read minds. But my whole life is souls and the heart. I can feel yours. So when your soul and heart feel something, I feel it.” That made sense. “Thalia, I know you have some questions, and I promise to answer them. After you eat dinner though. I don’t want you to go hungry.” He looked full of compassion.
Ass.
We ate dinner in a comfortable silence before sitting on the couch. He sat there patiently waiting for me to whip out the Spanish Inquisition on him. Okay, one point for him.
I took a few breaths and then turned to face him. “So it’s all true, the dreams?” There. It was out in the open. He nodded.
“It is.” I sucked in a deep breath. Okay, okay, okay. “Breathe Thalia.” He was trying to soothe me.
“I knew it. Was that really you in my dream that first night or was I just seeing you from my past?” It was something that bugged me from the beginning.
“I entered your dream. I had to see you.”
Okay, so he can enter dreams. This was already a lot to take in, but sadly we had a long way to go. I had to get a grip on myself. I could do this. “Okay.” I nod. “Why now? Why did you wait to see me until then?”
His face looked strained. “I am limited to what I can say; I can only talk about what you’ve seen. It will probably raise more questions than I can answer, but I had to wait until you turned twenty-five.” He had to wait until I was twenty-five? Okay, he said he couldn’t answer questions about that. I would just have to grit my teeth and put that on the back burner. “Okay, so you can’t go further on that.” He nodded.
“ Soooo, you are Anubis, and we met back in ancient times. And I was Greek, right?”
He nodded again. “Yes, I felt a soul in pain as I was enjoying the festival myself. I felt pulled to see you. Once I saw you, I fell immediately. You had such a strong heart, so brave, but yet so hurt. I wanted to protect you.” His confession made my heart swell.
His eyes stared at my chest where my heart was. Shit, he could feel my heart’s love for him. I coughed and his gaze flicked to mine. “Is that us?” I point to the painting on his wall that caught my attention the other night. He nodded. Okay, deep breaths.
“Is all of mythology real?” I was unsure of what I wanted his answer to be.
“Yes, to an extent. Not all stories you hear are true. I, for one, never did marry Anput like the stories say.” I thought about what the books said about him, and I realized I had felt a little sting that he was married to her.
All of the sudden I burst out into a fit of laughter. Something I hadn’t thought about was brought to the front of my thoughts. I glanced at his face to see he was confused.
“Sorry. I just realized why I have always had a fascination with Anubis. The little jackal in my room, all of it. Because I knew you. We were together.” Talk about obsessed girlfriend. I didn’t know why I laughed as long as I did, but it felt like I was releasing something in the process. My sanity?
Maybe.
He chuckled along with me and then he turned serious. “Do you hate me, Thalia?” That stopped my laughter. I just stared into his eyes. Did I hate him? I hated that he didn’t tell me who he was. I hated he waited this long to see me.
“No, I don’t hate you. I’m confused, hurt with a hint of betrayal, but I don’t hate you.” I shrugged. I answered honestly.
“I can live with that.”
I wanted to ask him a question that was nagging at me, but I was afraid of the hurt that would come with his answer. “You can ask me, Thalia,” he told me. He must have felt the battle inside me.
“You and I were in love back then and now. Um, did you um, have any more lovers since that life and this one?” I turned my face and stared at the artifacts on his walls.
“No, Thalia, I waited for you. I will always wait for you. My heart, body, and soul will always belong to you. There are no substitutes.” My face turned back to his. He had the face of an angel.
His black hair was messy, pieces scattering over his forehead touching his eyebrows. His gray eyes were piercing and full of love. I couldn’t imagine living thousands of years waiting for one person. It would be torture. But I felt down deep inside myself that I would do the same for him. “I’m sorry. That must have been hard on you. Did I have other past lives? Ones where you could be with me?”
He shifted around, looking strained again. “It was difficult, but I knew you would be back, and I would wait for you until the end of existence if I must. As for your other question, I’m sorry I’m not allowed to say more. Once you finish your transition you will be free and have all of your memories.”
I sighed. This was hard. “Okay, I think I am done with questions for now.”
I got up and went to get a glass of water. “Thalia.” His voice was broken as he stood behind me.
“I need some time.” Then I realized something. I spun around. “What should I call you? Tristan? Anubis?” I slept with a man with two names.
“My true name is Anubis, but I kind of like Tristan. I couldn’t risk giving you my name and have you remember everything at once. I don’t know what that would do to you. So I think for this life I would like to be Tristan with you. Not Anubis God of the Underworld. Just a man in love.” I nodded and tried not to cry.
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I wanted to run into his arms and stay there in his cinnamon filled warmth. But I needed time, to fully process everything.
“I understand, love. I will wait for you as long as it takes. Would you like me to take you home?” He held out his hand for me. I took a big gulp of water, set the glass down and interlaced my hand with his. He pulled me to his hard chest and then we disappeared.
Chapter 26
I didn’t black out this time, although I did feel a little nauseous. Tristan let go of me and I went to sit on the couch and gather my bearings. “Thalia!” Leander comes running out of his bedroom. His eyes were all blood shot. He looked like a mess. He glared at Tristan. “Thanks for the update, asshole,” he spat out as he sat next to me and put his arms around my body.
I felt safe in his embrace, until I realized what he actually just said to Tristan. I pulled back and stared at him. “You know, don’t you?” He just looked at me with a guilty expression.
“Unbelievable,” I whispered to myself.
Tristan coughed and spoke to ease the tension building inside of me. “I’ll go now. I love you, beautiful Thalia. I will always be there for you.” With that, he disappeared. It was strange seeing him do that, and I was waiting for panic or a freak out when he just disappeared. But it never came. Maybe I was truly coming around to all of this.
I turned back to Leander.
He looked defeated. “I guess you know about everything and all of us now.” He looked down.
My jaw dropped to the floor. “All of us? Are you a god too?” I yelled.
I swear I could not catch a break!
Leander’s eyes jerked up to mine. “Uh, I guess you don’t know everything then. Um, before you start screaming and freaking out, let me just go ahead and answer what I can. I figured if you knew who he was you were done with your transition, but I guess not if he left some things out. Okay ah! Don’t speak; close those lips. I’m not done.” I was beginning to interrupt him but closed my mouth instead. “I am a demigod.” I just shook my head.
Weighing of the Heart (Volume 1) Page 13